Sports Columnist

The fifth-floor cafeteria of an exclusive womens' fashion store in New York was the unlikely meeting place of AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and his chairman, Mike Fitzpatrick, for the discussion on Demetriou's exit from the AFL, announced on Monday.

The pair travelled to New York first class to watch the Super Bowl and, despite their wives not accompanying them, met for a coffee at a distant corner table in the womens' store.

If the venue was unlikely, so was the only Australian observer to this moment in history.

John Ribot, founder of NRL teams the Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, had a more valid reason for being in a women's store: he sought refuge in the cafeteria while his wife shopped.

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"I'd travelled over on the same plane as them," Ribot said, adding, "a little further back."

"I left them alone. I knew they were in high-level discussions."

Demetriou confirmed at Monday's press conference that while he was in the US for the Super Bowl he informed Fitzpatrick of his decision to leave the AFL.

"We got together in New York and I told him officially," he said.

Maybe a clothing store does hold some significance for the end of the career of the most powerful man in the nation's biggest sport.

While 2014 will be Demetriou's 11th and final season, people have been examining the emperor's clothes for some time.

AFL rivals the government for status in Victoria and the code's chief executive is supreme ruler, with Demetriou often referred to as Vlad.

Yet over the past 18 months he has made some bizarre pronouncements, beginning with the Melbourne Demons tanking and more lately, Essendon's supplements scandal.

AFL has also become increasingly litigious under his watch.

Whereas I have written about rugby league for 30 years and never been sued by the headquarters of the national body, this is not so with AFL, particularly following an article last February which drew a brutal response from Demetriou.

It asked whether the AFL tipped off Essendon that it was under investigation by the ACC.

Five months later, Essendon's then coach, James Hird, raised the same question when he revealed a phone call between his then chairman, David Evans and Demetriou. A possible tip off formed the basis of Hird's Supreme Court writ.

Essendon doctor Bruce Reid also sought to include a log of phone calls in his legal defence against a possible AFL ban.

As it transpired, the AFL dropped action against Reid and Hird was paid his $750,000 salary for the 2014 season in advance.

These were major backdowns for the code which meant that the storywas never tested in open court.

Demetriou was very close to the Federal Minister for Sport, Kate Lundy, the Labor senator of the "we will catch you" threat to footballers at the ASADA/ACC national press conference a little more than 12 months ago.

The AFL did very well out of the Rudd/Gillard governments, with Fitzpatrick praising Demetriou for his role in prising $3 billion from the public purse over the past decade, including $2 billion on stadiums.

But Labor is now in opposition and one of the first decisions of the Abbott government was to announce it would not give AFL club Geelong the funds it required for further development of its stadium.

Demetriou has always countered the accusation that he and the AFL Commission are close to Labor, saying, "We are politically agnostic."

But this is not the perception of senior Liberals who point to the failure of retired ministers, such as former Treasurer Peter Costello and federal sports minister, Rod Kemp, to be invited to join the commission.

Demetriou's close friend, Kim Williams, the son-in-law of former prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was the latest addition, joining last month.

While the appointment of Williams - who resigned as News Limited boss after a short tenure - has been interpreted as a "Vlad response" to a conflict Demetriou had with Rupert Murdoch's main Melbourne newspaper, the reality is that Williams, as a former Foxtel chief executive, will bring expertise to the table for the next broadcasting contract.

The AFL kingmaker at the Commission table is former ACTU secretary, Bill Kelty.

He chose Demetriou and is believed to favour as his successor AFL deputy chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, the nephew of former Howard Government Defence minister, Ian.

Kelty, like Fitzpatrick, knows that the AFL needs to be closer to the Abbott government and the next emperor must be cut from a different cloth.

4 comments so far

And here I was thinking Aussie Rules was about kicking a ball from one end of a park to another.

Commenter

RTP

Location

Sawtell

Date and time

March 04, 2014, 12:37AM

Roy Masters, thank you - very interesting.The AFL agnostic - not a chance!! For the true believers, it is a religion - hallelujah, I hear the clarion call of the sirens.

Commenter

Howe Synnott

Location

Sydney

Date and time

March 04, 2014, 6:01AM

Gosh it all seems so dodgy and scheming, all about how to get free money off the gov't…Aussie Rules, the working mans game, what a myth.

Commenter

Over it still

Location

Sydney

Date and time

March 04, 2014, 10:48AM

Roy what an insight. Obviously all these folks you mention get to sit in the good seats with free drinks and food. The rest of pay our way in and get ripped off in the drinks & eats area. If their other day jobs are so important how hard is it to run the game? Am I cranky about the food & drinks I sure am.